How Haskell County can expect to be affected
Oklahoma has been declared under a State of Emergency for all 77 counties. 108 injuries and six deaths have resulted due to the severe weather across Oklahoma, according to www.ok.gov’s Situation Update as of May 28. The state of emergency, according to the update, is due not only to flooding concerns across the state but “severe storms, tornadoes and straight-line winds that began in April.” News reports on the flooding have reached outlets around the world, such as NBC News, The New York Times and CNN.
With the recent news of close neighbors such as Sallisaw, Spiro and Webbers Falls experiencing flooding and bridges closing, it is easy to see why the citizens of Haskell County could be worried. However, many sources claim there is no need for panic, in fact, water levels on Tuesday were at a low around Kerr Lake, according to Short Mountain gate attendant Tom Watson.
At the Commissioner’s meeting on Tuesday, May 28, Sheriff Tim Tuner claimed that the Corps (of Engineers) reported that there is no need to worry, but that flood maps show that “Tamaha, Red Hill and Keota Landing [are] all areas of danger. We’ve been in contact with Muskogee County officials, they told us that we need to get ahead of this thing because it is coming. We talked to the Corps (of Engineers) and the Corps (of Engineers) seems to think that it is not an issue.”
He explained that emergency mangers, fire chiefs of the county and volunteer firemen had been sent to a Pittsburgh County Emergency Meeting in McAlester to look at flood maps and prepare. There has been a regional team set up to decide what will be done in case of flooding.
Haskell County emergency manager, Chris Bullard, went to the Pittsburgh County Emergency Management meeting on Tuesday morning.
“Two pertinent things we learned there were that we are expecting more rain over southeastern Oklahoma and that the Eufaula dam is getting close to the point of having to release.” He explained that at the meeting he learned that Southeastern Oklahoma was expected to receive two to four more inches of rain and that the Eufaula dam is expected to release by Friday, but most likely water will be released from the dam before then. When it does, he said, they plan to keep an eye on Haskell County, especially eastern Tamaha and areas surrounding Kerr Lake. He claims that they can not be exactly sure of the impact, “It all depends on the amount of rainfall [we receive] and how fast they have to let the water out. Eufaula dam is the most important factor.”
By Madison Davis / Staff reporter